CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats Game Notes August 7th

Published on August 7, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


Lynchburg fell 13-4 in game one of their four-game series with Myrtle Beach last night at BB&T Coastal Field...It was the Hillcats third straight loss after winning four straight games...Tonight the Cats play the second game of this four-game series and game five of a seven-game road trip that will complete a stretch of 13 out of 17 on the road...They are now 1-3 on the current Southern Division swing...

VS. MYRTLE BEACH: The Hillcats are 8-6 against the Pelicans thus far this season and are 4-4 on the Grand Strand...Last year the Pelicans took the season series 13-7...Lynchburg was 6-6 against the Birds until they lost seven in a row to drop the series...Myrtle Beach has the all-time advantage in the series 115-98, and they are 63-46 at home...

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Lynchburg's loss last night was their third straight defeat...This after they won four games in a row...Prior to that they had dropped four consecutive ballgames...In the first half the Hillcats didn't lose three games in a row until June 6th and 7th at Wilmington...

TROUBLES ON THE BACK END: In the last nine games the Lynchburg bullpen has taken three losses, two of which have been in walk-off-fashion...During those nine contests the relievers earned run average has been 9.00 (32 earned runs in 32 innings)...That includes the 13 runs the pen allowed in Tuesday night's 15-3 loss to the Indians and eight runs allowed last night in the 13-4 drubbing...In the first half of the season the bullpen went 19-6 with a 3.40 ERA and converted 23 of 27 save chances...During the second half the pen has gone 9-9 with a 5.05 ERA and is just five out of 11 in save opportunities...In his last nine appearances RHP Mike Colla he has allowed 20 earned runs in 18 and 1/3 innings (9.64 ERA) pitched...Over that time he has raised his ERA from 0.86 (three earned runs in 31 and 1/3 innings) to 4.17...RHP Chris Cullen has allowed 14 runs in his last 14 and 2/3 innings pitched (8.59 ERA in eight games) to raise his ERA from 2.72 to 4.31...LHP Paul Mildren has allowed 19 earned runs in his last 11 and 1/3 innings pitched (15.09 ERA in eight games) to move his ERA from 4.06 to 5.77...RHP Moises Robles had gone 18 and 2/3 innings without allowing a runs until he allowed a walk-off homer at Kinston on Wednesday and then allowed a career-high seven runs in just one inning of action last night...In those two appearances (eight earned runs in one and 2/3 innings) his ERA went from 2.43 to 4.60...

DEJA VU: On Wednesday in a day game on the road in a series finale, the Hillcats starter (LHP Justin Wilson) allowed just one run on one hit (a home run) and the Cats eventually lost 2-1 in walk-off-fashion...Exactly one week earlier in a day game on the road in a series finale, the Hillcats starter (LHP Jeff Locke) allowed one run on one hit (a home run) and the Cats eventually lost 2-1 in walk-off fashion...Wednesday's loss was at Kinston and last Wednesday's loss was at Wilmington...

ALL OVER AGAIN: Lynchburg led 3-1 last night unitl Myrtle Beach plated seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning...They led 1-0 through five innings on Tuesday night before Kinston scored 12 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning...The K-Tribe had not scored a run in the first 14 innings of the series before they put up the biggest inning of the season against the Hillcats this season...It was the second most runs scored in an inning ever against the Cats, second only to the 13 runs the Tribe scored in the second inning on June 19th, 2008...The huge frame led to the most runs scored (15), the most hits (19), and the biggest deficit (12) against the Cats all season long...Kinston had the first 11 men reach and score with still no outs recorded in the inning...The K-Tribe brought 15 men to the plate in the inning and hit two grand slams...

WONDERFUL WILLIE: LHP Justin Wilson allowed just one run on one hit in five innings of work on Wednesday at Kinston...The run scored on the lefty in the first inning stopped a streak of 15 and 1/3 innings without allowing a run...He has gone five innings or more in six of his last seven starts after he got through five innings just five times in his first 14 outings...In his last six starts the former Fresno State Bulldog is 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA (six earned runs in 31 and 1/3 innings)...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Brandon Beachy was signed in 2008 by the Braves out of Indiana Wesleyan University...He made his professional debut last season with Rookie Danville and went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in six relief appearances with the Braves...This season he began the year with Low-A Rome and had a 5.60 ERA in 12 games with no decisions...He then made one appearance with Double-A Mississippi and did not allow a run in one inning of relief...Most recently he has been with Myrtle Beach where he has gone 2-1 with a 2.87 ERA with a save in 15 games (three starts)...He has faced Lynchburg twice out of the bullpen and has not allowed a run in an innings and 1/3...

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